“Behavioral Targeting” is one of the hottest buzzwords in digital advertising. Everyone in the industry is excited by its prospects, but few local advertisers know how to capitalize on it for their business. At WRAL, we’re to help…

So what exactly is behavioral targeting? Behavioral targeting is the process of using first and third party data to identify online audience segments, and then serving those individual audience segments tailored advertising most likely to peak their interest.

This is the holy grail of advertising, being able to speak directly to your target audience with a timely and relevant message. If a local daycare can target ads to young parents surrounded by screaming children at home, instead of speaking to everyone driving down I-40 during rush hour, it is a much more efficient use of their dollars. Behavioral targeting, through the use of cookies, helps make this happen.

What is a cookie? A cookie is a small piece of code stored in a user’s browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox etc.). Whenever a user visits a website, cookies anonymously track their behaviors on that site and begin putting together a unique profile of that user. Over time, and across many websites, users accumulate numerous cookies, and develop comprehensive online behavioral profiles which can then be targeted.

This obviously makes the quality and quantity of this behavioral data vital to the success of any behavioral targeting campaign, and uniquely positions WRAL.com in this market.

As one of the top local news properties in the country, WRAL.com has exclusive first party data on our four million monthly visitors, along with access to a network of national data providers and major brand websites. We provide our advertisers access to high value audience segments, with the option of reaching those segments on WRAL.com or one of our partner sites.

If you are tired of your message falling on deaf ears, let us help you reach the right audience with our local knowledge and national reach.

Chris is responsible for managing the suite of audience targeting products at WRAL.com and CBC New Media Group. He regularly consults with Capitol Broadcasting Company's diverse portfolio of clients on digital advertising strategies, and oversees the company's DMP and DSP vendor relationships. His previous work experience includes stops in sports marketing and TV broadcast sales, and he is a proud member of the original Carolina Panthers’ bandwagon.

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Behavioral targeting is a win-win for both the visitor and the advertiser. Relevant ad targeting allows the user to see only ads that they would be interested in and therefore the nature of this type of ad placement allows a better conversion rate to the advertiser. For example a user who shows an affinity for cooking wouldn’t mind seeing an ad from a cookware supplier. And in turn the effectiveness of this targeted ad has a much better opportunity to create a sale for the advertiser.

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